Peacock Fairy Costume

Peacock fairy costume is finished!  Well, at least until I get inspired to add more details.  In this photo shoot I'm wearing wings from Fancy Fairy.  They're gorgeous but I may want to make some wings of my own that complement the dress even more.

More about construction and inspiration over at my Fire Pixie Fashion web site.  For now, enjoy the photos!  Now I just need a special occasion...

Sewing New Fairy Costumes - Butterfly Fairy & Peacock Fairy

It's springtime and we've been getting tons of requests for butterfly themed birthday party entertainment this month.  I had some monarch butterfly wings which were collecting dust in my office (probably since last Spring) and decided to dust them off and do something with them.  

I found some gorgeous orange and pink monarch-y fabric and sort of went nuts.  The skirt is made out of 12 "wing" sections - each layer is backed with a shimmery black fabric that peeks through the translucent sheer monarch fabric and shaped like a butterfly wing. I layered all the sections in a spiral, so when I twirl around, the skirt flutters out just like butterflies in the breeze. 

The white "dots" are acrylic jewels that catch the light and shimmer so beautifully.  I put the jewels on the top too, as well as embroidering a color-variegated butterfly using my new embroidery machine, which is just so much fun to use. 

I finished it on Friday night and couldn't help but wear it out.. we had tickets to Les 7 Doigts de la Main Circus at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley and I went to the circus as a butterfly.  I mean, if you can't wear your new butterfly skirt to the circus, where CAN you wear it?

My other personal project right now is a peacock fairy dress.  I'm taking my time with this one.. it's getting more and more complicated (in a good way).  When I was in Japan this winter doing fire dancing shows at Huis ten Bosch, we visited a nearby zoo a couple times where they had gorgeous peacocks, and I got to see one fully "display" for the first time ever.  It was astonishing and absolutely riveting, and I think that peacocks may just be my new favorite animal.  

This dress is certainly making me feel like strutting around.. I need to find an occasion for it!  I'm designing it all in separates, so I can be fancier or simpler and use all the costume pieces together or with other costumes.  So far I've made four pieces. 

The bustle is made from a stretchy peacock / animal print with gold highlights, which was the first piece of fabric inspiration I had.  

The tutu is made from lots and lots of layers of blue, purple, and black tulle and is embroidered with peacock feathers.  (I've worn these two pieces before as part of my Woodland Fairy costume).

This weekend I finished the ruffle train and the skirt.  The ruffles will bustle up, or they can be let out to trail along behind like a peacock tail.  The skirt is made from a gorgeous two-toned fabric with a silky shimmer.  It's iridescent, and looks greeny-blue from one direction and blueish-purple from another direction.  I put gathers in the front which really emphasizes the shimmery-ness of the fabric.  I put ruffles along the bottom of the skirt as well.

I'm still working out the details of the top, but there will most likely be feathers!  And I do want this to be a fairy when it's done, which means wings, of course.  I just have some vague notions about the wings so far -- and I have to figure out if Darrell will allow me to store yet another specialized set of wings in our house, or if I'd better just reuse some of the wings I've already got.  

I gotta admit - I sure do love being in the grips of a creative project like this.  :)

New Birthday Princess and Fairy Costumes, and Inspiration

Springtime is in full swing in the San Francisco Bay Area, and as I was walking through our Fremont neighborhood yesterday I saw maybe the most beautiful perfect rose I have ever seen.  It blazed at me in so many colors: red to pink to peach to bright yellow at the center, with the sweetest scent and the most delicate petals, right at the peak of full bloom.

Usually on my way to Suju's Coffee I walk with a purpose.  Got to get there.  Caffeinate.  Burn some calories.  Get back to the office before I miss too many phone calls.  However, last weekend at a fire show I pulled a groin muscle and this week I haven't been able to walk at my usual breakneck pace.  

So yesterday I meandered.  I dawdled and lollygagged.  I stopped and noticed the roses.  This morning my head is spinning with ideas.  New monarch butterfly princess costume.  Mermaid-riding-a-turtle costume.  New ideas for magic tricks and stories.  Peacock Fairy costume.  (this one's in the works and is going to be astonishingly beautiful)  I can't wait to get to it all.

As a costume designer and performer, I'm constantly amazed whenever I find inspiration.  Sometimes I feel like all my creativity has run dry, but then I walk around the corner and encounter the worlds most perfect rose, and I remember that the world is infinitely larger and more mysterious and magical than I will ever be able to discover or explore.

Swimming Mermaid Photos & Video

Back in October, we went to Maui for a week and brought the mermaid tail.  We rented an underwater camera and went for a swim, and got a lot of photos and a few video clips as a result.  They have been sitting in an unassuming folder on my hard drive ever since.
Well, yesterday I found them, dusted them off, and decided to polish them up a bit.  I'm so happy with the results!

We did two snorkel trips in the ocean and did a good long photo shoot in our condo's swimming pool.  The swimming pool photos turned out just lovely!  The ocean photos - not quite as much.. it's hard not to make a "pain" face while swimming with one's eyes open in the naked ocean, so a lot of the photos are less than optimal.  Also, I really need a weight belt if I'm going to be diving in the ocean in my rather buoyant mermaid tail.

We did get enough beautiful material to make a wonderful new video!  Here it is.. enjoy!

Cellophane Tinkerbell Fairy Wings

I have been wanting new Tinkerbell wings for a long time.  Her wings are really tall and intricate (at least, in my mind) and so I was a little intimidated by the project.  Wing structure is crucial, and finding a strong enough structure for wings that are that big and vertical seemed really tough.

Then, I discovered Wonderflex.  This stuff is great.  It's a low temperature sculptable plastic sheet with a woven fiber back - people seem to mostly use it for making costume armor or other "hard" costume pieces that don't lend themselves to fabric.  It's paintable and sandable and .. well, it's COOL.

My first project was a Sleeping Beauty crown and since that went so well I decided to try for something a little more ambitious.  I found Vickibunnyangel's fairy wing tutorial and got inspired..  Here's the end result:

The wings took me about 2 days to make.  I thought I'd taken more step-by-step photos but .. I guess I just got too excited or something.  Here's how I did it:

Materials:  

• 400 series bristol vellum (2 big sheets, from Michael's)
• Gold spray paint
• Clear gloss acrylic sealer (probably didn't really need this)
• Spray glue
• Iridescent Cellophane wrapping paper
• Mod Podge Gloss
• 16 g wire
• Wonderflex
• Gold leaf paint
• Flowers for decorating
• Foam cushion (I used a little piece of yoga mat)

1. Trace out the vein design on the Bristol board.  I did the upper and lower wings separately.
2. Cut the veins out carefully with an x-acto knife.  (my hands got SO tired)  

I made sure there were fairly thick support veins along the top edge but I left the outer edge open.  I like the way this looks but I'm wishing now that I'd added a little more support along the outside edge because the finished wings are a little bit saggy along the outside.

3. Next I painted the wing frames with shiny gold spray paint.  I did 2 coats on each one and then sprayed with an acrylic sealer - probably not necessary but I don't want the wings to fall apart if it rains!
4. I sprayed the frames with spray glue, and laid them down on sheets of cellophane, carefully - this was tricky trying to get the cellophane smooth along the veins and took me a couple tries (it's good to have extra cellophane on hand!)  

I did a couple test-runs on scraps first and learned that one should NOT put spray-glue on the cellophane - the glue doesn't dry clear so the cellophane ended up looking all spatter-y.  Not unattractive.. just not what I was going for.  Spraying just the frames is the way to go.

5. Time for mod-podge!  I used Mod Podge gloss and a little miniature paint roller.  This worked brilliantly.  I did 3 coats on the front of each wing and 2 coats on the back.  This beefs up the cellophane so it doesn't feel like the slightest breeze will tear it, and seals the whole thing really nicely.  It dries perfectly clear and it made the wings really feel like wings.

6. While the mod podge was drying, I got out the wire and bent it around until I had the frame right.  I used one piece of wire for each side - down along the top of the large upper wing, looping back up and then around the bottom of the lower round wing.  I made the wires loop down below the bottom of the lower wings to make a brace that slides into the top of my costume (I prefer this method to wearing wing straps).  (wish I'd taken a picture of this part! that would make it easier to explain)

Because my craft room is a little messy I ended up accidentally using 16g wire for one wing and 18g for the other.  As I was testing out the finished wings, the 18g side was really saggy and I ended up having to add a second 16g wire to that side - not ideal, but note-to-self - when in doubt, use the heavier wire!

7. I attached the two bare wire frames together using wonderflex scraps, basically making a rectangular brace that holds the frames in place and that I can slide into the back of my costume.  (There's also a strip of wonderflex underneath the flower to make the wings stay a little more vertical.)

8. Then I attached the wings to the frames with a long strip of Wonderflex.  I used a hair dryer to melt just a few inches of Wonderflex at a time, then smoothed the sticky Wonderflex down to the wings, covering the wire so it was trapped underneath the Wonderflex.

At this point I tested the wings to see how sturdy they were and added a second wire to the right side since it was kind of floppy.  Also I added a wire to the bottom of the right wing (and just a piece of wonderflex to the left wing so it looked symmetrical). The wonderflex is amazing.. you can just keep piling it on to add strength.. but it also adds weight so don't get carried away.

9. I painted all the Wonderflex with gold leaf paint and then used hot glue to add the flower and leaves, covering up the top of the back brace.  I tried the wings on - they looked GREAT but kept sort of sliding sideways.. probably because one wing had two wires and twice as much Wonderflex so it was a little heavier.  Grr..
10. To solve this problem I cut a small piece of yoga mat and hot glued it to the inside of the back brace.  The wings now slide inside my dress and bra, and nestle comfortably between my shoulder blades and I can spin and dance and play and they aren't going ANYWHERE.

So that's it!  I had so much fun making these that I'm almost sad to be finished with them.  I may embark on some new light-up snow fairy wings next.... :)

Handmade Sleeping Beauty Crown

My Wonderflex arrived yesterday!!

Wonderflex is a sculpting material that's basically a heat-moldable plastic sheet with a fiber backing. It sticks to itself really well, so multiple pieces can be fused together, and it's easy to shape with just a hair dryer or heat gun. It's used a lot for making Cosplay armor or other "hard" costume pieces, but it's lightweight, paintable, sandable and really easy to work with.

 I didn't have a project in mind - I just know that multiple times in the past, I've wanted to make accessories or costume pieces that are harder or more armour-like than fabric can be, so I ordered a sheet of it, and I'm having so much fun.

 I wanted to start simple so I decided to do a Sleeping Beauty crown for my first project. It's a simple circle without a whole lot of shaping, so I figured it'd be a good learning piece. It turned out just gorgeous.    :)

Bare wonderflex.  I traced a quarter to be sure the circular cutouts on the side front of the crown were even and perfectly round.

The piece I originally cut was a little too small so I bridged the back seam with another small piece, ending up with two seams (but it fits PERFECTLY)

I sanded and primered, then spray painted it bright gold.

Then I painted it with gold leaf and highlighted again with the gold spray paint.  Then I finished with a spray sealer with a glossy finish.

Jewels!!!

It fits really perfectly - it's light and flexible and comfortable, and the multi-hued gold paint really gleams.  So happy with how this turned out!

Swimming Mermaid in Maui

I just got back from a week in Maui.  I love Maui!

It was mostly a vacation trip but I brought my swimming mermaid tail with the aim of getting some fun underwater photos by Maui's clear blue ocean reefs.  

We went to a snorkeling spot in Kihei.  My swimming mermaid tail is pretty well designed, in 2 pieces so it's a little easier for me to get around than in a one-piece silicon tail, but it's still kind of fiddly - I have to pull the top half on then sort of waddle as close to the water as possible before sitting down to pull on the bottom half, and then there's a lot of strap-tightening and velcro and snapping that needs to happen before I'm ready to swim.  I found a fairly convenient rock and started the process, focusing hard - every time a wave splashed in, it tried to carry away the bottom part of the tail, and the rock I was perched on was so knobbly and volcanic that it was quite the task to get tailed-up.

Once I got the last snap in place, I looked up.. to see a whole gaggle of tiny little girls standing 10 feet away from me, stock still, with their mouths hanging open.  I cracked up and almost fell off the rock.  I waved at the girls and scooted off the rock into the ocean where I swam away into the surf.

We rented an Olympus TG820 and discovered that it takes really amazing clear photos underwater.  I also discovered that my tail is *very* buoyant in salt water.  

We did 2 days of shooting.  The first day, our location wasn't all-that but the lighting was nice.  Unfortunately, I look like I'm holding my breath and squinting in almost all the photos.  It's sort of a "this is painful" face, which doesn't quite sell the mermaid.  :)  The second day I was a bit better about that, and we found some good coral, so we got some good shots.. but MAN is it hard to 1) hold your breath without seeming to, 2) swim as hard as you can to as deep as you can get with a very buoyant tail, 3) maintain the proper distance from the photographer, and 4) smile in a relaxed and lazy way at the camera while your eyes and lungs are burning.  Next time I am wearing a weight belt. 

Actually that might be my next project.. making a pretty, mermaid-approved weight belt.  :)

I imagine there will be some sort of slide show / video made from all the photos at some point, but for now.. here are my favorites!